Re: The Future of Music: Credo by John Cage

by Tom LaForgia

John Cage was a truly interesting and forward-thinking individual. He was right about so many things and it astounds me that this was written before WWII. When he says “the special function of electrical instruments will be to provide complete control of the overtone structure of tones and to make these tones available in any frequency, amplitude and duration” I think of the envelope generator, and the pitch controls in any modern day synthesizer; digital or analog. I really like his idea of referring to the composer as an “organizer of sound” because I kind of view music production in that way. When you’re producing music in a program like Logic, the grid-like format allows you to arrange music in a very organized way. When I look at an entire arrangement, I get the idea in my head that I am looking at a big rectangle with the longer horizontal, and each element I add is like drawing a line down the rectangle vertically cutting the rectangle by some ratio. I think a lot music producers today think about sound like Cage did. I think the use of silence in music is equally as important as any melody that could be written or sound designed. Even in the space between drums hits you decide to fill with percussion; those have as great of an affect on the rhythm of your beat as the drum hits themselves. Difference is definition, and without one there would not be the other. I believe the concept should be carried from composition all the way to mastering. This was a concept Cage spoke of over 75 years ago that is more essential to music than I think most people understand today. This man was truly ahead of his time.